DOCSLIB.ORG

Introduction to the Study of the Changes (Yixue Qimeng 易學啟蒙)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Introduction to the Study of the Changes (Yixue Qimeng 易學啟蒙) 1 Introduction to the Study of the Changes (Yixue qimeng 易學啟蒙) by Zhu Xi 朱熹 1186 Translated by Joseph A. Adler Corrected edition, 20171 Introduction The I-hsüeh ch'i-meng (Introduction to the Study of the Classic of Change), by Chu Hsi (1130-1200), is a short text that lies at the intersection of two monumental products and shapers of the Chinese intellectual tradition. The I Ching (Classic of Change), known more commonly in Chinese literature as the Chou I (Changes of Chou), was originally a divination manual used by the aristocracy of the Chou dynasty (11th-3rd c. BCE) to determine the advisability and potential outcomes of specific courses of action they were contemplating. The core of the text is sixty-four six-line diagrams (kua) or hexagrams, each composed of a pair of three-line diagrams, or trigrams.2 Each line can be either solid, symbolizing yang (light, active, rising, expanding), or broken, symbolizing yin (dark, passive, sinking, contracting). Over the course of centuries it acquired 1 The first edition of this translation was published as Introduction to the Study of the Classic of Change (Provo: Global Scholarly Publications, 2002). That edition contained many production errors, and the publisher promised to issue a second edition, but never did. Here those errors have been corrected, but the introduction and translation have not been significantly revised, nor have I converted the Wade-Giles romanization to pinyin, except for the title and author. 2 The Eight Trigrams (pa-kua) are: Qian Dui Li Zhen Sun Kan Gen Kun (Heaven (Lake (Fire) (Thunder) (Wind) (Water) (Mountain) (Earth) The 64 Hexagrams, or six-line diagrams, can be derived by combining the trigrams in all possible pairs. They each have a name reflecting the overall yin-yang structure; each is thought to represent an “archetype” of a social or natural situation in which the questioner can be involved. In the method of divination explained by Chu Hsi in the I-hsüeh ch'i-meng, the subject derives a second hexagram from the first, thereby yielding 4,096 (642) possible situations. 2 various layers of commentary, and became widely known as a compendium of the most profound insights into the nature and patterns of the Way (tao). It is one of the AFive Classics@ associated with Confucius (551-479 BCE), who is traditionally credited with having written the appendices (the ATen Wings@) that became part of the text itself -- although scholars since the 11th century have acknowledged that this is very unlikely.3 As a Confucian text, the I Ching is considered to be a guide to moral behavior. According to this way of thinking, when the proper course of action is unclear one can use the text as an oracle to get a Areading,@ so to speak, of the tao at that moment in time, which is determined by the set of circumstances in which one is acting. Since circumstances are constantly changing, the reading one derives from the I Ching includes a directional component, or tendency, that can be extrapolated to a potential future outcome. But that outcome is contingent upon one's ability to interpret the reading correctly and, most importantly, to act in harmony with the flow of events. Thus, from a Confucian perspective, the text is best used as an aid to moral self-cultivation, since it helps one to understand the morally appropriate response to circumstances when otherwise one might be at a loss what to do. The other pillar of the Chinese intellectual-religious tradition represented by the I-hsüeh ch'i-meng is its author, Chu Hsi, who was probably the most influential Chinese thinker after Confucius. Chu Hsi was the architect of what became the orthodox version of ANeo-Confucianism@ B the revival of Confucianism that began in the 11th century, incorporating elements of Taoism and Buddhism into a synthesis based on the Mencian strand of Confucian thought.4 Chu Hsi wove together some of the new Confucian theories that had arisen in the11th century into a creative synthesis that became the dominant school of Chinese religious philosophy until the 20th century.5 3 The Ten Wings were probably compiled from roughly the 4th to the 1st centuries BCE. It should also be mentioned that the I Ching is a foundational text of the Taoist religion too, and is accepted and used by Chinese Buddhists as well. But here we are concerned with the I Ching as a Confucian text. 4 Mencius (Meng Tzu) lived in the 4th century BCE and developed the political, psychological, and ethical dimensions of Confucius' thought. He is especially known for his theory that human nature is inherently good. 5 The chief representatives of 11th-century thought that Chu Hsi included in his synthesis were Chou Tun-i (1017-1073), Chang Tsai (1020-1077), and the brothers Ch'eng Hao (1032-1085 ) and Ch'eng I (1033-1107). These figures constituted what was known at the time as the Ch'eng school, and after Chu Hsi became known as the Ch'eng-Chu school, or Tao-hsüeh (The Learning of the Way). It is important to bear in 3 His interpretations of the Confucian tradition became the officially sanctioned ideology that had to be mastered by literati who took the civil service examinations to qualify for government service. This influence on the Chinese intellectual world lasted from 1313 to 1905, and extended to Japan and Korea as well. The I-hsüeh ch'i-meng was the second of two books Chu Hsi wrote on the I Ching. The first was a commentary, entitled Chou-i pen-i (Original Meaning of the Classic of Change), which was completed in 1177 and revised sometime after 1186.6 The meaning of the title is significant, for by the Sung dynasty (960-1279 CE) the I Ching had acquired not only the ATen Wings@ but also hundreds of commentaries by later scholars. Chu's commentary was an attempt to move beyond the later accretions of interpretation embodied in the Ten Wings and the later commentaries, and to penetrate to the original meanings intended by the sages who were thought to have been responsible for the earliest layers of the I. These were (1) Fu-hsi, a mythic culture hero to whom were attributed the original oracular diagrams; (2) King Wen, the first king of the Chou dynasty, who was said to have written the short texts accompanying each hexagram; and (3) his son, the Duke of Chou, who was thought to have been the author of the short texts accompanying each line of each hexagram. mind that the Ch'eng school did not constitute the entirety of 11th-century Confucian thought, and that Chu's synthesis was a selective one. See Hoyt Cleveland Tillman, Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi's Ascendancy (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992). 6 See Ch'en Chen-sun (fl. 1211-1249), Chih-chai shu-lu chieh-t'i (Annotated Bibliography of Chih-chai Library) (Kuo-hsüeh chi-pen ts'ung-shu, vol. 3). ch.1; Wang Mou-hung, Chu-tzu nien-p'u (Biography of Chu Hsi) (1706; rpt. Taipei: Shih-chieh, 1966), p. 280; Ssu-k'u ch'üan-shu ts'ung-mu t'i-yao (Summaries of Works in the Imperial Library) (Kuo-hsüeh chi-pen ts'ung-shu ed.), vol.1, ch.3, pp. 27-28; and Toda Toyosabur, Ekky Chshaku Shik (Outline History of I Ching Commentaries) (Tokyo: Fugen, 1968), pp. 581-593. The Chou-i pen-i has been reprinted and is available in numerous editions; the I-hsüeh ch'i-meng in somewhat fewer. Editions of the Chou-i pen-i include the Imperial Academy edition (rpt. Taipei: Hua-lien, 1978), and Li Kuang-ti, ed., Chou-i che-chung (The I Ching Judged Evenly) (1715; rpt. Taipei: Chen Shan Mei, 1971), 2 vols. In the latter, Chu's commentary is collated with Ch'eng I's I-chuan (Commentary on the I). The editions of the I-hsüeh ch'i-meng chiefly consulted for this translation are Li Kuang-ti, ed., Chou-i che-chung (both the Imperial Academy and the Ssu-k'u ch'üan-shu editions), and an edition pubished in 1975 by Kuang-hsüeh Publishers (Taipei). Other editions include Chu-tzu i-shu (Chu Hsi's Surviving Works) (rpt. Taipei, 1969), vol.12; Hu Kuang, comp., Hsing-li ta-ch'üan shu (Great Compendium on Nature and Principle) (1415; rpt. Ssu-k'u ch'üan-shu chen-pen, 5th series), chs. 14-17; and Li Kuang-ti, comp., Hsing-li ching-i (Essential Meanings of Nature and Principle) (1715; rpt. Ssu-pu pei-yao ed.), ch. 4. Besides these two books there are numerous essays and letters in Chu Hsi's Collected Papers (Chu wen-kung wen-chi) concerning the I, and a surprisingly large section of his Classified Conversations (Chu-tzu yü-lei) is devoted to the I: approximately 11% of the total number of pages. 4 Of these, Chu Hsi was especially interested in Fu-hsi (ASubduer of Animals@), who was also known as the earliest of the AThree Sovereigns@ (san sheng) of high antiquity.7 Besides inventing hexagram divination, Fu-hsi was credited with the invention of hunting and fishing implements, and animal sacrifice. But it was Fu-hsi's creation of the I that persuaded Chu Hsi to place Fu-hsi at the very beginning of the Asuccession of the Way@ (tao-t'ung), the line of sages who, according to Chu, had passed down the true understanding of the Tao from antiquity to the present.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Unity of Yin and Yang: a Philosophical Assessment
    The Unity of Yin and Yang: A Philosophical Assessment Thaddeus T'ui-chieh Hang National Chengchi University, Taipei "One yin ^ and one yang d, constitute what is called Tao 51"; "When yin and yang are united in their virtue, the soft and the hard attain their physical shape." These famous statements are drawn from the "Appended Remarks" (Hsi-tz'u Slit?) of the / Ching %M.. Since they were uttered more than two thousand years ago, they became the metaphysical foun- dation for the two great philosophical schools of China, namely, Taoism and Confucianism. For both these schools, yin and yang, two contrasting but mutually compensating components constitute unity in harmony. We shall endeavor to give an historical account of this concept, describe it phenomenologically, and venture a philosophical assessment from cos- mological, anthropological, as well as theological points of view. I. An Historical Account The origin of yin-yang ideas must be sought in very ancient times. In the Book of Poetry (Shih-ching I^M?i<) the words "yin" and "yang" signified the north and south sides of a mountain.1 In the Book of Historical Documents (Shu-ching US?) the two words never appeared together ex- cept in the apocryphal "Chou-kuan" /SJ1T. Even in the Analects of Con- fucius there is no mention of yin-yang. However, the eight trigrams were probably in use at the beginning of the Chou )*] dynasty (late 12th cen- tury B.C.). Since the eight trigrams consist of combinations of broken and 'James Legge, The Chinese Classics: Vol. IV, Book of Poetry (Taipei, 1972), Ode 19, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Kung Tzu Confucius 500 BC the DOCTRINE of the MEAN The
    Kung tzu Confucius 500 BC THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN The Doctrine of the the Mean [Zhong Yong Chung Yung], attrib. to Confucius, trans. In Wing-Tsit Chan, A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy, (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963), 95-115 this version available on the Internet via World Wide Web at gopher://gopher.vt.edu:10010/11/66/3 What Heaven has conferred is called The Nature; an accordance with this nature is called The Path of duty; the regulation of this path is called Instruction. The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the path. On this account, the superior man does not wait till he sees things, to be cautious, nor till he hears things, to be apprehensive. There is nothing more visible than what is secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute. Therefore the superior man is watchful over himself, when he is alone. While there are no stirrings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy, the mind may be said to be in the state of Equilibrium. When those feelings have been stirred, and they act in their due degree, there ensues what may be called the state of Harmony. This Equilibrium is the great root from which grow all the human actings in the world, and this Harmony is the universal path which they all should pursue. Let the states of equilibrium and harmony exist in perfection, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish.
    [Show full text]
  • Tao Te Ching LAO-TZU
    Tao Te Ching LAO-TZU Tao Te Ching Introduced by BURTON WATSON Translated, with Translators’ Preface, Glossary, & Pronunciation Guide, by STEPHEN ADDISS & STANLEY LOMBARDO Ink Paintings by STEPHEN ADDISS Hackett Publishing Company Indianapolis/Cambridge Copyright © 1993 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 14 13 12 11 10 7 8 9 10 Cover art by Stephen Addiss: Lao-tzu For further information, please address Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. P.O. Box 44937 Indianapolis, Indiana 46244-0937 www.hackettpublishing.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lao-tzu. [Tao te ching. English] Tao te ching/Lao-tzu; introduced by Burton Watson; translated, with translators’ preface, glossary, & pronunciation guide, by Stephen Addiss & Stanley Lombardo; ink paintings by Stephen Addiss. p. cm. ISBN 0-87220-233-X (alk. paper) ISBN 0-87220-232-1 (pbk.: alk. paper) I. Watson, Burton, 1925– . II. Addiss, Stephen, 1935– . III. Lombardo, Stanley, 1943– . IV. Title. BL1900.L26E5 1993b 299’.51482—dc20 93-21939 CIP ISBN-13:978-0-87220-233-7 (cloth) ISBN-13:978-0-87220-232-0 (pbk.) ePub ISBN: 978-1-60384-637-0 Contents Introduction Translators’ Preface Chinese Pronunciation Guide Tao Te Ching Glossary of Chinese Words Captions Introduction Ancient China Traditional accounts of Chinese history customarily begin by describing certain ancient rulers such as the Yellow Emperor or Yao and Shun, paragons of virtue and wisdom, who first taught the arts of civilization to the Chinese people. Scholars now agree that in all probability these figures were originally local deities who, in the process known as euhemerism, were in later ages divested of their more blatantly supernatural characteristics and made to look like historical personages.
    [Show full text]
  • Shape Skeletons Creating Polyhedra with Straws
    Shape Skeletons Creating Polyhedra with Straws Topics: 3-Dimensional Shapes, Regular Solids, Geometry Materials List Drinking straws or stir straws, cut in Use simple materials to investigate regular or advanced 3-dimensional shapes. half Fun to create, these shapes make wonderful showpieces and learning tools! Paperclips to use with the drinking Assembly straws or chenille 1. Choose which shape to construct. Note: the 4-sided tetrahedron, 8-sided stems to use with octahedron, and 20-sided icosahedron have triangular faces and will form sturdier the stir straws skeletal shapes. The 6-sided cube with square faces and the 12-sided Scissors dodecahedron with pentagonal faces will be less sturdy. See the Taking it Appropriate tool for Further section. cutting the wire in the chenille stems, Platonic Solids if used This activity can be used to teach: Common Core Math Tetrahedron Cube Octahedron Dodecahedron Icosahedron Standards: Angles and volume Polyhedron Faces Shape of Face Edges Vertices and measurement Tetrahedron 4 Triangles 6 4 (Measurement & Cube 6 Squares 12 8 Data, Grade 4, 5, 6, & Octahedron 8 Triangles 12 6 7; Grade 5, 3, 4, & 5) Dodecahedron 12 Pentagons 30 20 2-Dimensional and 3- Dimensional Shapes Icosahedron 20 Triangles 30 12 (Geometry, Grades 2- 12) 2. Use the table and images above to construct the selected shape by creating one or Problem Solving and more face shapes and then add straws or join shapes at each of the vertices: Reasoning a. For drinking straws and paperclips: Bend the (Mathematical paperclips so that the 2 loops form a “V” or “L” Practices Grades 2- shape as needed, widen the narrower loop and insert 12) one loop into the end of one straw half, and the other loop into another straw half.
    [Show full text]
  • The Analects of Confucius
    The analecTs of confucius An Online Teaching Translation 2015 (Version 2.21) R. Eno © 2003, 2012, 2015 Robert Eno This online translation is made freely available for use in not for profit educational settings and for personal use. For other purposes, apart from fair use, copyright is not waived. Open access to this translation is provided, without charge, at http://hdl.handle.net/2022/23420 Also available as open access translations of the Four Books Mencius: An Online Teaching Translation http://hdl.handle.net/2022/23421 Mencius: Translation, Notes, and Commentary http://hdl.handle.net/2022/23423 The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean: An Online Teaching Translation http://hdl.handle.net/2022/23422 The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean: Translation, Notes, and Commentary http://hdl.handle.net/2022/23424 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION i MAPS x BOOK I 1 BOOK II 5 BOOK III 9 BOOK IV 14 BOOK V 18 BOOK VI 24 BOOK VII 30 BOOK VIII 36 BOOK IX 40 BOOK X 46 BOOK XI 52 BOOK XII 59 BOOK XIII 66 BOOK XIV 73 BOOK XV 82 BOOK XVI 89 BOOK XVII 94 BOOK XVIII 100 BOOK XIX 104 BOOK XX 109 Appendix 1: Major Disciples 112 Appendix 2: Glossary 116 Appendix 3: Analysis of Book VIII 122 Appendix 4: Manuscript Evidence 131 About the title page The title page illustration reproduces a leaf from a medieval hand copy of the Analects, dated 890 CE, recovered from an archaeological dig at Dunhuang, in the Western desert regions of China. The manuscript has been determined to be a school boy’s hand copy, complete with errors, and it reproduces not only the text (which appears in large characters), but also an early commentary (small, double-column characters).
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Ch' Eng
    C143 ) A Study of Ch' eng -The Cosmo-ethical Principle in the Confucian Metaphysics of Morality- by Shim, Jae-Ryong* I. Introduction The efforts of some of the modern Confucian scholars seem to turn toward re-establishingConfucian order ~nd harmony with creative en­ thusiasm. They declare that the contribution of Confucianism to the eternal hope of mankind toward realizing the true sense of culture and peace is not to be simply discarded, because the true spirit of Confucianism is nothing but a craving for order and harmony. \\That, then, is the motive to achieye the ideal of Confucianists In their craving for harmony? The answer given from the time of its initiator Confucius himself down to the present is invariably one: ch' eng' (sincerity, truth, or absolute reality). The other key-concepts like hsing b (nature), jen C (humanity or benevolence), li d (principle or rationality) and ch'j e (principle of dynamic creativity or material force), etc. have been cast to incessant trnasformation and faced ups and downs according to the time and situations. The intricate relations and proper places of those key-concepts will be examined later on within the general framework of the Neo-Confucian metaphysics of morality centering around the concept of ch' eng. The purpose of this paper is, first, to trace the ongm and develop- * Assisstant Professor, Department of Philosophy; Seoul National University. mentof the concept ch' eng in the history of Chinese philosophy, and, second, to reconstruct the genuine philosophy of commitment in com­ pliance with the true spirit of Confucianism which is now .
    [Show full text]
  • Polygrams and Polygons
    Poligrams and Polygons THE TRIANGLE The Triangle is the only Lineal Figure into which all surfaces can be reduced, for every Polygon can be divided into Triangles by drawing lines from its angles to its centre. Thus the Triangle is the first and simplest of all Lineal Figures. We refer to the Triad operating in all things, to the 3 Supernal Sephiroth, and to Binah the 3rd Sephirah. Among the Planets it is especially referred to Saturn; and among the Elements to Fire. As the colour of Saturn is black and the Triangle that of Fire, the Black Triangle will represent Saturn, and the Red Fire. The 3 Angles also symbolize the 3 Alchemical Principles of Nature, Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt. As there are 3600 in every great circle, the number of degrees cut off between its angles when inscribed within a Circle will be 120°, the number forming the astrological Trine inscribing the Trine within a circle, that is, reflected from every second point. THE SQUARE The Square is an important lineal figure which naturally represents stability and equilibrium. It includes the idea of surface and superficial measurement. It refers to the Quaternary in all things and to the Tetrad of the Letter of the Holy Name Tetragrammaton operating through the four Elements of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. It is allotted to Chesed, the 4th Sephirah, and among the Planets it is referred to Jupiter. As representing the 4 Elements it represents their ultimation with the material form. The 4 angles also include the ideas of the 2 extremities of the Horizon, and the 2 extremities of the Median, which latter are usually called the Zenith and the Nadir: also the 4 Cardinal Points.
    [Show full text]
  • Edinburgh Research Explorer
    Edinburgh Research Explorer Long live the king! Citation for published version: Gentz, J 2015, Long live the king! The ideology of power between ritual and morality in the Gongyang Zhuan. in Y Pines, P Goldin & M Kern (eds), Ideology of Power and Power of Ideology in Early China. Brill, Leiden, pp. 69-117. <http://www.brill.com/products/book/ideology-power-and-power-ideology-early-china> Link: Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research Explorer Document Version: Peer reviewed version Published In: Ideology of Power and Power of Ideology in Early China General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 30. Sep. 2021 Chapter 3 Long Live the King! The Ideology of Power between Ritual and Morality in the Gongyang zhuan 公羊傳1 Joachim Gentz C'est à l'idéologie, à cette ténébreuse métaphysique qui, en recherchant avec subtilité les causes premières, veut sur ces bases fonder la législation des peuples, au lieu d'approprier les lois à la connaissance du cœur humain et aux leçons de l'histoire, qu'il faut attribuer tous les malheurs.
    [Show full text]
  • Symmetry Is a Manifestation of Structural Harmony and Transformations of Geometric Structures, and Lies at the Very Foundation
    Bridges Finland Conference Proceedings Some Girihs and Puzzles from the Interlocks of Similar or Complementary Figures Treatise Reza Sarhangi Department of Mathematics Towson University Towson, MD 21252 E-mail: [email protected] Abstract This paper is the second one to appear in the Bridges Proceedings that addresses some problems recorded in the Interlocks of Similar or Complementary Figures treatise. Most problems in the treatise are sketchy and some of them are incomprehensible. Nevertheless, this is the only document remaining from the medieval Persian that demonstrates how a girih can be constructed using compass and straightedge. Moreover, the treatise includes some puzzles in the transformation of a polygon into another one using mathematical formulas or dissection methods. It is believed that the document was written sometime between the 13th and 15th centuries by an anonymous mathematician/craftsman. The main intent of the present paper is to analyze a group of problems in this treatise to respond to questions such as what was in the mind of the treatise’s author, how the diagrams were constructed, is the conclusion offered by the author mathematically provable or is incorrect. All images, except for photographs, have been created by author. 1. Introduction There are a few documents such as treatises and scrolls in Persian mosaic design, that have survived for centuries. The Interlocks of Similar or Complementary Figures treatise [1], is one that is the source for this article. In the Interlocks document, one may find many interesting girihs and also some puzzles that are solved using mathematical formulas or dissection methods. Dissection, in the present literature, refers to cutting a geometric, two-dimensional shape, into pieces that can be rearranged to compose a different shape.
    [Show full text]
  • Study and Uses of the I Ching in Tokugawa Japan
    Study Ching Tokugawa Uses of and I Japan the in Wai-ming Ng University Singapore National of • Ching $A (Book Changes) The of 1 particular significance has been book of a history. interest and in Asian East Divination philosophy basis its and derived from it on integral of Being civilization. Chinese within parts orbit the Chinese of the cultural were sphere, Japan traditional Ching development indebted for the the 1 of of its to aspects was culture. Japan The arrived in later sixth than the and little studied text in century no was (539-1186). Japan ancient readership expanded major It literate such Zen to groups as high-ranking monks, Buddhist courtiers, and period warriors medieval in the (1186- 1603). Ching scholarship 1 during reached Tokugawa its period the (1603-1868) apex Ching when the became 1 popular of the influential and Chinese This 2 most texts. one preliminary is provide work aims which brief Ching of overview 1 to essay a a scholarship highlighting Tokugawa Japan, in popularity themes: several of the the text, major writings, schools, the scholars, of/Ching and characteristics the and scholarship. 3 Popularity Ching The of the I popularity Ching Tokugawa of the The Japan in acknowledged I has been by a t• •" :i• •b Miyazaki Japanese number scholars. of Michio Tokugawa scholar of a thought, has remarked: "There by [Tokugawa] reached Confucians consensus was a pre-Tokugawa historical of the For overview Wai-ming in Japan, Ng, Ching "The 1 in text a see Japan," Quarterly Ancient (Summer Culture 1996), 26.2 Wai-ming 73-76; Asian and Ng pp.
    [Show full text]
  • Destiny, Vital Force, Or Existence? on the Meanings of Ming in Daoist Internal Alchemy and Its Relation to Xing Or Human Nature*
    《道教研究學報：宗教、歷史與社會》第六期（2014） Daoism: Religion, History and Society, No. 6 (2014), 157–218 Destiny, Vital Force, or Existence? On the Meanings of Ming in Daoist Internal Alchemy and Its Relation to Xing or Human Nature* Fabrizio Pregadio Abstract Neidan or Internal Alchemy has developed two main modes of self- cultivation. The first is based on cultivating the mind and intends to remove the causes that prevent one from “seeing one’s true nature,” which is equated with the Elixir. The second is based on purifying the main components of the human being—Essence (jing 精 ), Breath (qi 氣 ), and Spirit (shen 神 )—so that they may serve as ingredients of the Elixir. These two modes of self-cultivation are said to place an emphasis on xing 性 and on ming 命 , respectively. However, Neidan texts repeat time and again that xing and ming can only be understood and realized in conjunction with one another. Fabrizio Pregadio is Guest Professor of Daoist Anthropology at the Friedrich- Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, and a research associate of the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities “Fate, Freedom and Prognostication,” directed by Professor Michael Lackner at the same university. His research focuses on the Daoist views of the human being and the Daoist traditions of self-cultivation. His current projects include a study of the intersection of Daoist, Buddhist, and Neo-Confucian doctrines in Internal Alchemy (Neidan). * This article is a contribution to the research project on “Fate, Freedom and Prognostication,” directed by Prof. Michael Lackner at the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities, University Erlangen-Nuremberg.
    [Show full text]
  • The Original I Ching : an Authentic Translation of the Book of Changes Pdf, Epub, Ebook
    THE ORIGINAL I CHING : AN AUTHENTIC TRANSLATION OF THE BOOK OF CHANGES PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Margaret J. Pearson | 256 pages | 10 Sep 2011 | Tuttle Publishing | 9780804841818 | English | Boston, United States The Original I Ching : An Authentic Translation of the Book of Changes PDF Book In the English translation, every effort has been made to preserve Wilhelm's pioneering insight into the spirit of the original. In relation to the human sphere, this shows how the great man brings peace and security to the world through his activity in creating order: "He towers high above the multitude of beings, and all lands are united in peace. He has also made the exceedingly strange decision to incorporate tags in Latin, taken from the early Jesuit translations, which he claims. Expect nothing from your life. Seek Guidance and Wisdom from the Book of Change. Entire chapters are devoted to such vital material as the hosts of the hexagrams, the mutual hexagrams, and the core hexagrams--all barely hinted at in previous versions of the I Ching. Richard Wilhelm, Cary F. The author begins by examining the discovery of the I Ching by the first mythical emperor of China, Fu Xi, a divine being with the body of a serpent. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. The difference between the two translations—the differences among all translations—is apparent if we look at a single hexagram: number 52, called Gen. The I Ching's purpose is universal: to provide good counsel to its users in making decisions during times of change.
    [Show full text]